Inside Sonoma County's run on Trump-punking pink yarn

In preparation for Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington, and its affiliated sister marches countrywide, women are knitting up a storm of pink pussy hats to wear in protest against the president-elect and his sexist rhetoric.

Antagonized by the sexism exhibited throughout the election, women of all age groups are rushing to their local yarn shops to use creativity and practical arts skills for make political statement. Many have one goal in mind: pussy hats made of pink yarn, a symbol of solidarity for women in the Washington march and local offshoots. A staffer at Sebastopol’s Yarnitudes says that the last few weeks have been “Pink! Pink! Pink!”—and notes a definite uptick in the amount of pink yarn leaving the shelves since the election.

Knitterly’s in Petaluma experienced a similar rush. Says Kate, the manager: “We’ve had lots of women for whom this is their first knitting project. They’re learning to knit to make these hats.”

Justine from Cast Away & Folk in Santa Rosa says “more people have bought pink yarn in the last week than in the last few years combined We’ve been selling at least twenty skeins of pink yarn each day for the last three weeks,” she says.

Knitting circles have also become more interactive, says Justine. At the last gathering, almost everyone was knitting hats and they made a night of it: Pink lemonade, pink wine, pink cookies, and baskets of pink yarn. Some hats are donated to the shop, which has been sending them to march organizers in Washington and the Bay Area.

Sister marches to the Women’s March on Washington are happening across the country on the 21st, including three scheduled for Bay Area: San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose.